TPO 66

The professor casts doubts on the reading that airship could become popular in the future for several advantages. He asserts that airships are not likely to be used frequently in the future.

Firstly, it is pointed out in the reading that since the airships use a balloon to float, they could use engines solely for horizontal movement, which is energy-saving. On the contrary, the professor insists that the air gases, hydrogen and helium, used in the balloons have its own downsides. Hydrogen could cause fire easily, and it had induced many accidents before. Although Helion is safer, it is difficult to obtain, expensive and does not produce as much power as hydrogen.

Then the professor challenges the idea in the reading that airships could be used in hard-to-reach locations because they do not require long way to takeoff, landing and are able to carry heavy loads. He asserts that the light weight of airship prevents them from application in hard-to-reach places. To be specific, in order to carry heavy logs from forests, airships must be able to keep stable, but strong wind would damage airships owning to its light weight.

Finally, the reading passage addresses that airships would probably replace satellites for the reasons that they could rise high and stay there without refueling for a long time. However, according to the professor, to take the place of satellites, airships must stay in a specific height with strong wind. As a result, airships would use lots of fuel to keep stable. And in addition to function well as the replacement of satellite, the fuel of airships would use up quickly.